Opioids have directly caused or contributed to the deaths of 50 people in this part of the Upstate since 2016, according to statistics from the Anderson County Coroner's Office.

It is because of those troubling numbers that Anderson County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn asked his colleagues Tuesday to consider suing drug companies, and potentially others, connected to the opioid industry. If council members agree, Anderson County could become the latest in South Carolina to take on the opioid industry in a lawsuit.

"This is a very bad problem, very sad and very serious," Dunn said Tuesday ahead of the council meeting. "The toll is measured in human lives and in families. But it is also costing the county in terms of what it means to our emergency medical services, our jails and our hospitals. This opioid problem has no social barriers. It goes after black and white, rich and poor."

At least two other counties in the state have taken action to file opioid-related lawsuits this month. Beaufort County was first, and on Monday night the Spartanburg County Council voted unanimously to file a suit.

Greenville County Council hired a lawyer Tuesday night to investigate damages to the county caused by the oversupply of opioids. The council asked attorney John White to see if there is a basis for a lawsuit.

“I would encourage each county to do it,” Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt said. “We are the ones bearing the brunt, all the way from our hospitals to the David Forrester Treatment Center — they are dealing with all these issues as well as the sheriff’s department, the coroner."

Thirty-six people in Spartanburg County died of opioid overdoses last year, Britt said. Greenville County's recent statistics were not immediately available, but the state Department of Health and Environmental Control reported that 68 people died of opioid overdoses in Greenville County in 2015.

Dunn said Anderson County is still looking at its options for a lawsuit. He said Anderson County may file its suit alone instead of joining other counties in South Carolina in a singular piece of litigation.

"I don't know that we want to jump on somebody else's bandwagon," he said. "If we file it here and keep it here, it could go to a jury of local people, to our neighbors. Who knows better than them how opioids are hurting us?"

Of every 1,000 babies born in Anderson County, about seven of them come into the world with an opioid addiction. And in 2016, there were 94 opioid prescriptions dispensed for every 100 residents of the county, according to a document prepared by Anderson County staff.

Dunn said the county could file suit using lawyers who would get paid a percentage only if the county wins in court. No particular law firm has been identified yet, he said.

County Attorney Leon Harmon said if a case goes forward, it would be handled not by him but by an outside legal firm.

"We're still in the preliminary stages of determining what the county might do," he said before the council meeting.

Opioids are a class of drugs used to reduce pain.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid pain-reliever. It is many times more powerful than other opioids and is approved for treating severe pain, typically advanced cancer pain, according to the Centers for Disease Control.The instances of fentanyl being illegally made and distributed are increasing in several states, the CDC says.

Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns said more research needs to be done to determine how much the opioid crisis is costing in this region.

"I can tell you anecdotally that it is costing Anderson County hundreds of thousands of dollars," he said. "And what we know is that even if we begin to get the crisis under control, we we will still feel its ripple effects for years to come. Any money we recover would go toward dealing with the aftermath of opioids. How do you put a price on saving someone's life?"

Anna Mitchell contributed to this report.

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